Gamera: The Last Guardian
by Kaiju Alpha
Summary: A young woman and the last member of a race of gigantic turtles are about to discover both their destinies as monsters from the lost empire of Atlantis launch a devastating attack on mankind. (The first installment of my Gamera/Godzilla shared universe and a reboot of the Gamera franchise.)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Happy Birthday

 _She stood among the burning city, flames as bright as the sun licked the sky as the titans let loose their battle cries. Both beasts, each the size of skyscrapers, grappled like enormous sumo-wrestlers, buildings crumbling all around them. She held the curved necklace in her hand tight until she could feel it pierce her flesh and draw just a prick of blood. The earth shuddered beneath her feet due to the sheer fury of the clashing titans as their roars reached fever pitch_.

 _"Cuz. Hey, cuz!" A voice began to split the sky, drowning out even the thunderous sounds of battle._

"KIRI, WAKE UP!"

With a shriek, Kiri Tsunade rolled out of bed, ejected from her dream, and was greeted with the sight of her younger cousin, Yukari. The sixteen-year-old currently was wearing her school uniform and had tied her hair into a tight ponytail.

"Yukari," Kiri spoke up, trying to keep her anger inside due to being woken up at such an early time, "there are better ways of waking me up you know."

Yukari rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Mom told me to wake you up, because, oh I don't know, _we have to get ready for school_!"

Kiri groaned and looked at her clock. "Alright, fine, I'll get ready."

Yukari grinned and walked downstairs while Kiri pulled herself out of her bed sheets. "We've still got thirty minutes before school starts, it's no big deal." she muttered.

After washing up and getting dressed in her uniform, Kiri stood in front of a mirror and brushed her short black hair. Afterwards, she walked over to her calendar, currently set on the month of May, days marked all up to the 26th and etched out the day before with a black marker. She sighed and looked at the box resting next to her futon, a note reading "Do not open until your nineteenth birthday.

-Love Mom."

 _Today's my birthday._ Kiri thought, _Maybe I'll open it up when I get back._

"Come on, Kiri!" Yukari shouted from downstairs.

Kiri groaned and snatched up her backpack as she headed downstairs to the living room... or in this case her Aunt Kanna's café, the Genbu. At barely 7:30 am, the café was already getting its first customers sitting down and starting the day with donuts, traditional Japanese breakfasts consisting of Miso soup and rice and coffee. At the register, Kanna, a spritely woman in her late 30's collected the customers' yen while, in the kitchen, her partner Kenji "Kenny" Ichinose helped prepare more baked goods. Kanna was currently dressed in her work clothes; an egg-blue apron with a sewn, purple chibi turtle on the front. Upon seeing her daughter and niece, she waved at Kiri. "Glad to see you're up, birthday girl!" she cried out.

"Glad to be nineteen." Kiri droned as she snatched up a donut. "Hey, Aunt Kanna? Did my mom call yet?"

Kanna shook her head. "No, she didn't. Sorry, sweetie."

Kiri lowered her head before hoisting up her backpack. "'Kay, just checking."

"I'm sure she'll come eventually, Kiri. Keep holding your head up."

Kiri gave her aunt a small smile before walking out the door. Yukari was about to follow before Kanna cleared her throat, eliciting a groan from her daughter. "Yes, Mom?"

"I heard how you woke your cousin up. What have I told you?"

"Don't push her out of bed. Got it, Mom."

With that, the sixteen-year-old followed her cousin out the door as Kanna watched with a sigh. Kenny poked his head out of the kitchen as though he were listening to the whole thing.

"You're gonna have to tell her eventually, Boss." he told her.

"I know." Kanna sighed.

At school, Kiri could barely stay awake while her teacher, Mr. Yuasa, lectured the class about the G-Incident of the 50's, what with Yukari waking her up so prematurely. As Yuasa droned on and on about the incident, Kiri slumped into sleep.

Once school was done, both cousins walked back to the Genbu while Yukari reprimanded Kiri.

"Seriously? You can't even stay up for even one lesson? What's gotten into you?"

"Maybe, it's because you woke me up by pushing me off the bed." Kiri snarked.

Yukari rolled her eyes, "That explains why you're so cranky today. Well, _crankier_."

"It's also because today's my birthday."

Yukari raised an eyebrow at her cousin's comment, "Really? You're cranky when it's your birthday? You're turning a year older, cuz. That should be reason enough to celebrate!"

"It's not just that, Yukari. It's just that, I would at least like to spend it with my family."

"You already have a family! You have me, you have my mom, our uncles, our aunts, our grandparents, Kenny-"

Kiri groaned, "That's not the point! I meant spend it with my parents." Her voice lowered somewhat, "You know, with _my_ mom and with _my_ dad."

Yukari sympathetically patted her cousin on the shoulder. It had been sixteen -soon to be- seventeen years since Kiri's father died and her mother disappeared, just a day after her own father up and left her and Kanna. She was only two-years-old.

"Don't worry, Kiri. I'm sure your mom'll come back. Now, how 'bout you perk up a bit. It's your birthday!"

With that, both cousins walked together shoulder-to-shoulder back to the Genbu. However, Kiri had no idea her life was going to change.

Underneath Kiri's bed, the wrapped box began to glow as if anticipating the inevitable.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Egg

The Genbu was packed full of Kiri's relatives, from cousins to aunts to uncles and even her grandparents. Kanna was currently passing around various finger foods such as hot wings, pork gyozas and more, filling the café with mouth-watering smells. Kiri's younger cousins were currently running around, hopped up on sugar while their parents tried to rein them in. Kiri watched as this happened and drank her berry punch, letting the fruity-flavored, carbonated drink flow down her throat before being elbowed by Yukari, holding a glass of punch and a hot wing in both hands.

"Having fun yet, cuz?" she asked with a smile.

Kiri gave her cousin a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"That's the spirit, Kiri!"

"Yeah." Kiri looked toward the door as if expecting a woman to come in and ask if she saw her daughter. "I just wish my mom was here."

Yukari groaned, "You're still going on about your mom?"

Kiri rolled her eyes, "No, I'm dreaming about a world without wars or traffic accidents for the sake of humanity."

Yukari rose an eyebrow, "You know I'm no stranger to sarcasm, right?"

Kiri gave her a cheeky smile. "That I am, Yukari. That I am."

Yukari mock laughed, "Oh, ha ha ha. I think they're about to cut the cake, birthday girl."

Kiri chuckled and went over to the round birthday cake which had just come out of the kitchen, decorated with blue and purple icing and, in its center, stuck out a nineteen-shaped candle with red icing spelling out "Happy Birthday, Kiri!"

As Kiri took her seat, her guests began to sing the birthday song as the now nineteen-year-old thought about her wish. As soon as the song was done, the girl opened her eyes, took a deep breath and blew out her candles.

 _I wish my mom would come back soon_. she quietly wished as her birthday guests cheered. As soon as that was done, Kanna whistled for everyone to listen to her. "Alright, everybody line up in single file if you want a slice. No cutting in line." she announced before turning her attention to an eager-looking ten-year-old wearing a turtle shirt "That means you too, Toshiro." she told him, eliciting a groan from the boy.

After two hours of celebration, talking with relatives and teeth sinking into finger foods and marble cake, the guests finally left as Kenny helped Kanna take down the decorations, including a large "Happy Birthday" banner. Meanwhile, Kiri was upstairs sitting on her bed, already dressed in her pajamas, counting the wad of birthday Yen given to her by her uncle Shusuke.

"Twenty-one thousand... twenty-two thousand aaaand twenty-three thousand yen." she muttered to herself as she straightened out her birthday money. "And so, Uncle Shusuke continues to spoil me."

The door opened and in walked (or rather stumbled) Yukari, looking rather queasy. "I swear, I never want to see another piece of food for an eternity." With that, she flopped on her bed, not bothering to take off her clothes. "Or at least another piece of chicken."

Kiri looked at her cousin and put her hands to her cheeks in fake surprise, "Giving up your favorite food? Oh, no! It's the apocalypse! Yukari's quit eating chicken!" she cried in mock horror, causing her cousin to glare at her.

"You're not being funny, you know." she snarled.

Kiri shrugged, "That's what you get for over indulging on them."

"Good point." Yukari groaned before moaning over her angry stomach.

With that, the nineteen-year-old got off of her bed and reached underneath, this caught Yukari's attention as she sat up a bit, her hand still on her belly, "What are you doing?"

"Getting my birthday present."

"But you've got enough presents today." her cousin pointed out, gesturing to the yo-yo, the origami how-to book and the book about lost cities resting by the corner of their room, "Not to mention, Uncle Shusuke gave you enough money to buy more."

"This is a present from my mom." Kiri told her as she popped her head up, "Okay, come to Mama." she muttered as she pulled out the box and placed it on her bed. With that, she began to peel off the wrapping paper and opened the box and pulled out its contents.

The first was a comma-shaped bead hanging from a black metal Kiri had never seen before. Not only that, but it began to glow green, concerning Yukari.

"You sure you want to wear that thing? It could be radioactive!" she cried.

This prompted the nineteen-year-old to roll her eyes. "I sincerely doubt that."

Yukari frowned, "Fine, but don't come crying to me when you start growing a third arm from your head in the morning."

Kiri chuckled and began pulling out the second and last item in the box to which she rose an eyebrow. "What the-?"

"What?" Yukari asked. She got her answer as her cousin rested a large, white, oval-shaped object the size of a Cocker Spaniel on her bed.

"It looks like an... egg." Kiri commented as she examined her birthday present.

"So, let me get this straight - _urp-_." Yukari started before getting interrupted by a small burp, "Your mom -my aunt- gave you a possibly nuclear necklace and an egg."

Kiri shrugged, "Who knows, could be a fossil. And for the last time, I really don't think the necklace is radioactive."

Yukari was about to respond when what sounded like a tapping noise filled the room.

"Was that a bird?" she asked. With that, she shrugged, "Anyway, what I was going to-"

 _Crack_

Kiri and Yukari jumped as the egg's shell cracked.

"Kiri, I don't think this is a fossil."

"And your first clue was-?"

Another crack split the egg as bits and pieces of shell decorated Kiri's futon.

Both girls gathered around the hatching egg as they waiting for the baby to pop out. Just then, an egg tooth split through the shell as the hatchling crawled its way out of its white, ovular confinement and onto the mattress. It was-! It was-. It... was...

"A Snapping Turtle?" Yukari asked.

Sure enough, the small creature on Kiri's bed did in fact look like a Snapping Turtle, it had a long, trailing tail, a ridged shell and a small head with a sharp beak.

Yukari gave a grimace to her cousin, "So let me get this straight; your mom's present to you consists of a possibly nuclear necklace and a Snapping Turtle egg? Wow." she sarcastically commented.

"Would you stop calling this radioactive?" Kiri snapped, holding up her necklace. "Besides, I really don't think it's a normal Snapping Turtle."

Yukari rose an eyebrow, "Really, because it looks like one, it has a long tail like one, it has a ridged shell like one and it has a head like one. Ergo, _it's a Snapping Turtle._ "

"How about because it's bigger than what it should be and it has tusks?"

Sure enough, upon closer inspection, Yukari could see small tusks poking out from each side of the baby turtle's lower jaw.

"Okay, let me rephrase that; a possibly _mutated_ Snapping Turtle. Probably because of the necklace."

Kiri groaned "It's not radioactive! Also, I think he has something on him."

"He?"

Kiri pointed to the turtle's tail and front claws. "Thicker tail and longer claws."

Yukari then saw Kiri pick up the baby turtle and carry him over to her desk.

"Hey, be careful with that thing! Snapping Turtles have 'snapping' in their name for a reason!" she cried as her cousin placed her new turtle on the desk and turned on her lamp.

Kiri looked at the patterns on the hatchling. In addition to the mottled colors on his shell, she also noticed strange, curling red patterns all over the turtle's body.

"So, what are you gonna call him?" Yukari asked, brushing discarded egg fragments from her cousin's bed as to sit on it.

"How 'bout... Gamera." Kiri replied.

Yukari gave a "what" face. "'Gamera'? What kind of name is that?"

Kiri shrugged, "It just sort of came to me."

"In that case," Yukari walked over to the baby turtle and carefully stroked his head, "Welcome to the world, Gamera!"

Just then, the newly christened Gamera sneezed... and a small burst of fire came out, leaving both girls stunned at what had happened.

"Um, Kiri?" Yukari squeaked.

"Yeah, Yukari?"

"Did your baby turtle just sneeze _fire_?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Midnight Cravings

Yukari watched as Kiri paced back and forth while Gamera sat on her desk, oblivious to what was going on around him.

"Okay, let's recap, shall we? My mother's present to me on my nineteenth birthday just so happens to be a baby Snapping Turtle that sneezes fire. The question is, what are we gonna do with him?"

Yukari shrugged, "We could go show him to my mom."

Kiri gave her cousin a frown. "Oh, _sure_ , Yukari. I'll just go downstairs and say 'Hey, Aunt Kanna, turns out your sister-in-law left me a present I wasn't supposed to open until I was nineteen and it just so happens to consist of a necklace my cousin says is radioactive because it glows and a Snapping Turtle hatchling that breathes fire'."

Yukari groaned, "Well, what do _you_ plan to do with him? She's gonna find out eventually."

Kiri smirked, "Not unless we hide him so well she won't know he's around."

Yukari stammered, "I just said she'll find out eventually. What'll happen then?"

Kiri was about to answer until she realized she really had no idea what would happen next.

"I'll think of something." she replied, "Tell ya what, tomorrow, since it's the weekend, I'll look up how to take care of a turtle and hop on over to the pet shop and, when he grows big enough, we'll set him free."

Yukari rose an eyebrow, "Oh that's a _great_ idea, cuz. Let out a mutant fire-breathing turtle into the wild. I don't see how _that_ will backfire in anyway."

Kiri frowned at her cousin, "You got a better plan, Yukari? Because I am _all_ ears."

Yukari was about to say something until she too realized she had no idea. "Okay, fine. We'll go with your plan. Not gonna be my fault we screwed up the natural ecosystem."

"I'm sure things will turn out just fine." Kiri smiled before yawning. "Well, I've had a long day. Might as well go to sleep."

After petting Gamera and turning off the lamp, Kiri padded barefoot over to her bed and wrapped herself up in her blanket. Not bothering to take her clothes off, Yukari yawned and folded her own blanket over her. Taking one last look at Gamera as he rested on her desk, Kiri closed her eyes and let sleep take over her.

 _Kiri's eyes snapped open as she found herself floating in a void, her bare feet not touching any ground beneath her. It looked like she was floating in space, but every time she moved a limb, it was more akin to being underwater. Just then, voices began to enter her mind as a gigantic silhouette appeared in front of her and advancing quickly._

 _"The world is in danger. Protect the last guardian so that he may be old enough to fight it."_

 _The figure was much closer, several features being that of a round, frayed carapace on its back and long tusks sticking out from its lower jaw._

 _"Protect the last guardian."_

 _A gigantic, beaked, reptilian head emerged into full view, its sky-blue eyes meeting with her chocolate brown eyes._

 _"_ _ **Protect the last guardian**_ _!"_

With a yelp, Kiri shot up, her heart pounding and body covered in sweat. She then looked around to see Yukari, still in her bed.

"You can't catch me, evil space squid. For I am too fast for y-" she sleep-muttered briefly before going back to silent breathing.

Kiri sighed in relief, "It was just a dream." She was about to go back to sleep when her hand felt something ridged next to her. She looked down and saw the moon-lit silhouette of Gamera... in her bed.

"G-Gamera? How did you... get... over... here?" Kiri looked up at her desk and then back to the baby Snapping Turtle. She then put the turtle on the floor and watched it roam around as though looking for something.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" she asked. The girl looked at her circular clock and saw it was only two minutes past midnight With that, Kiri stepped down from her bed, picked up the turtle and tiptoed out of her room, past her aunt's bedroom and downstairs to the café. Luckily, Kenny had left for home so she didn't need to worry about getting caught. She placed Gamera on the counter, walked over to the refridgerator and found a container full of leftover unsauced chicken wings. She opened the container and pulled out one leg which she placed in front of the baby turtle. The turtle sniffed the piece of meat in front of him. Just then, Gamera shot a small burst of fire at the chicken leg, scorching it to perfection and then began to feast on it.

 _Well, that's one way to cook a chicken_. Kiri thought as she watched her new turtle dig his beak into the charbroiled leg. In a matter of a minute, Gamera had stripped the chicken leg clean of meat, leaving nothing behind but a bone and some crumbs of blackened skin. With Gamera finished with his meal, Kiri wiped off the scorch mark with a wet paper towel, threw the bone away, picked the turtle up and closed the fridge door with her foot, holding on to its bottom with her toes to make sure it didn't slam. After all, she didn't want Aunt Kanna finding out about Gamera.

With turtle in hand, Kiri tiptoed back up the stairs. She then realized the baby turtle was fast asleep and stroked his head with her finger as she entered her room.

"You're no ordinary turtle. Aren't you, little guy?" she wondered.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

How to Care for Your Fire-Breathing Turtle

The next day, Kiri hopped onto her computer and logged into Shelled . The first thing she got was a front page decorated with several moving turtles GIFs and a cute chibi girl holding an even cuter cartoon turtle with big blue eyes and an adorable smile. Her ears were greeted with a cheerful tune. She clicked on a link that read "Taking care of your Turtle". The link led her to a page filled with questions such as the turtle's name, gender, size, current weight, life stage and breed. For each one, Kiri typed in "Gamera", "male", "fourteen inches", "ninety-six pounds", "one day since hatching" and "Common Snapping Turtle".

Once she was done, she was greeted a page with a photo of a Snapping Turtle at the top as well as several facts about the breed as well as items needed for taking care of it. After reading the page over, she printed the list.

After breakfast, Kiri retrieved her list and her birthday money. "Yukari, I'm heading out, make sure Gamera doesn't get into trouble okay." she told her cousin.

Yukari rose an eyebrow and looked at the baby turtle. "I really doubt he's gonna go anywhere."

Kiri frowned at her cousin and handed her a big blue bucket filled with water. "He breathes fire, remember?"

Yukari nodded as Kiri went out. She then turned her attention to Gamera. "I got my eye on you, turtle." she warned. The baby turtle just sat still and stared into space, blinking only on occasions.

Kiri walked downstairs, yen tucked in her pocket as she headed for the door. "Kiri, where you headed off to?" Kanna asked as she dealt with customers.

"I've gotta go spend that money Uncle Shusuke gave me before it burns a hole in my pocket."

Kanna gave her niece a puzzled look before turning her attention to a customer looking at the donut rack. Without waiting for her aunt to reply, Kiri walked out the door and set off.

After a few miles of walking, Kiri had arrived at her destination: the Kadokawa Pet Store. As she stepped in, she found herself looking upon rows upon rows of pet toys, treats and other conveniences for a pet. She took the time to look at her list. First up: a large, ten gallon fish tank. (Though with how big Gamera was compared to a normal Snapping Turtle hatchling, she would probably have to go with a _fifty-five_ gallon tank.) Kiri grabbed a shopping cart and set off on her items quest.

Back at the Genbu, Yukari sat crosslegged on her bed with the bucket of water right next to it just in case, staring at the stagnant turtle on her cousin's desk. She waited for Gamera to do something else. Well, something aside from breathing fire and being a rather large turtle hatchling. Something along the lines of transform into a giant monster or teleport or anything a normal turtle would never be caught doing.

Next up on Kiri's list, once she scratched off the fish tank on accord of it in her cart, was a heating lamp. With that, she walked off in search of it.

Yukari continued staring at the baby turtle. Just then, her stomach growled. With that, she slowly got up from her bed, her eyes never once leaving Gamera. "I'm going to go get something to eat, okay? So you just stay there. Alright? You _stay_. Don't do anything funny, turtle." she snarled, giving him a "I'm watching you" gesture as she walked towards the stairs to get something to eat.

Meanwhile, back at the pet store, Kiri had gotten done with her shopping as she waited in line with three people ahead of her at the check-out section over looking her list. "Fish tank: check. Heating lamp: check. Filtration system: check. Sand and rocks: check and check." she murmered as the line decreased.

Yukari, came back up the stairs to see Gamera, still in his place on the desk. With a plate full of food such as four left over, unsauced chicken wings cooked in a microwave, a healthy scoop of rice and two sticks of celery, she slowly plopped herself back on the bed and began to slowly eat her lunch, starting with one of her celery with a crunchy bite and letting its salty, watery taste wash over her tongue.

With a bag full of items from the pet store in one arm, Kiri looked over the money she had left, which as now down to Ұ1000. "Huh, whaddya know." she muttered. She then heard her stomach growl. She noticed the Suzaku burger restaurant next door and decided to go there.

Yukari had just dug her teeth into one of her chicken wings. Even though it was soggy from the microwave, she could still taste the salty, peppery crust as it cooked in the pan. She looked up and noticed Gamera looking at her, more specifically, her chicken. "You're hungry too, aren't you?" she asked.

As if in answer, Gamera made a swallowing motion. With a sigh, Yukari tore off a piece of chicken, walked over to the turtle and placed the piece of meat down in front of the baby turtle, which he happily devoured. Once he was done, he turned his attention to the plate resting on Yukari's bed. Yukari sighed, "No, Gamera. This is _my_ lunch."

Gamera made the swallowing motion again, prompting the teenager to groan. "Gamera, no. You can wait until Kiri comes back."

Gamera made the motion a third time causing Yukari to stamp her bare foot on the floor. "Gamera! What part of 'no' do you fail to underst- what are you doing?"

Upon arriving at the Genbu, popping pieces of sriracha mustard off her fingers from the Suzaku Phoenix Burger. She was then noticed by Kanna.

"Oh, Kiri. Something's going on with Yukari upstairs could you go check please?"

Kiri, puzzled, carried her items upstairs and slipped off her shoes as she neared her room, the sounds of screaming entering her ears as well as... rocket jets?

Curious, Kiri opened the door just in time to see Yukari holding onto Gamera, as he flew around

on what looked like jet streams coming from his hindquarters.


End file.
